Slow robotics adoption is often blamed on cost. But for the end users who don't plan to buy, a more basic gap comes first: they can't point to a job on their line that a robot would do.
According to PMMI's 2026 Robotics in Packaging & Processing report, when end users were asked in an open-ended question why they don't expect to use a given robot type within 12 months, the most common answer was the same for every category: no applicable use case. Whether the technology was an industrial arm, a collaborative robot, a mobile robot, or a humanoid, "not needed / no applicable use case" ranked first. High cost followed as the second most-cited reason across all four.
The pattern points to a threshold problem. Before end users weigh payback or footprint, many simply have not connected a robot to a specific task on their line. Until that connection is made, cost and capability arguments have nothing to attach to.
Below the top two reasons, concerns diverged by robot type—a sign that specific objections surface only after the use-case question is settled. For industrial robots, integration complexity ranked third; for mobile robots, an unsuitable footprint; for humanoids, technology readiness; and for collaborative robots, organizational readiness. Each reflects the practical realities of a different technology.
For companies further along, the barriers shift from concept to execution. The report identifies the largest overall barriers to adoption as practical issues: high up-front cost, integration with existing equipment or systems, and maintenance and service support concerns. Defining the use case gets a project started; cost, integration, and support determine whether it advances.
The takeaway for OEMs and integrators is that barriers fall away in stages. Reaching non-adopters starts with helping them see where robotics fits, through use-case identification and proof-of-concept work, rather than leading with specifications or price. Once a use case is established, reducing integration risk and backing the system with responsive service carries a project the rest of the way.
For a market this early in its adoption curve, the first sale is often the use case itself.
SOURCE: 2026 Robotics in Packaging & Processing
For more insights from PMMI's Business Intelligence team, find reports, including Robotics in Packaging & Processing, Managing Obsolescence, and The Ripple Effect: CPG Sustainability and the New OEM Spec Sheet https://www.pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
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